Eight Years Later, Changes
From the very beginning of Blueprint 58, we agreed that our tip-top goal was listening to our neighbors and what they actually needed, rather than just what we thought they needed. We started our time in Adair Park 6 years ago just getting to know our neighbors, asking them what they wanted and needed, building genuine friendships and relationships. The slow and steady work of building community isn't exactly flashy, but it reverberates with the truth in our heart that whispers that the world is not as it should be, and that there is another way to live. Eventually, "us" and "them" transformed into "we," and we found ourselves landing in a place of true relationships with our neighbors. We love them deeply and depend on them just as surely as they depend on us.
This listening comes easy at the beginning, when things are new and we are uncertain of our footing anyways. We resist the urge to build things or start programs without first pausing to check in with both our own family, our Jesus, and all of the neighbors we love so deeply. As we have lived in the neighborhood longer, though, it grows easier to think we already understand the answers. To think, perhaps, that we should continue down familiar paths and embark on well-grooved trails.
This past year, however, Adam and I reminded ourselves again to listen to our neighbors needs. Once a week, eight high school boys would drag themselves out of bed for Bible study (and food, obviously). These boys all attend the local high school, and they were all saying the same thing: we don't have teachers. Long strings of substitutes and teachers quitting in quick succession meant that the boys' classrooms lacked stability and learning in any sense of the words. Adam and I looked at each other, and realized that if we were really listening to our neighbors we knew what they were saying: they need teachers.
And Adam said,
well I am a certified chemistry teacher, so maybe I can meet that need
. We talked and prayed, and decided he would apply and just see what happens. After all, maybe Chemistry wasn't the teaching position they had open, or perhaps his certification would have lapsed etc. Unsurprisingly, however, they hired Adam on the spot. And so this year will look, for the first time in 8 years, quite different for our family. Adam will teach at the local high school (the boys are torn between elated and horrified because they know there's nothing Adam loves more than tormenting and teasing them ), which means I will be home solo with the kids handling carpool for the bigger two, and taking care of baby Zay (who is still crazy and actually no longer a baby).
What does this mean for Blueprint 58? We, along with our board, feel like this is not a move away from doing ministry in our neighborhood for Adam, but a horizontal move into a new way of serving and loving our community well. We are hoping we will be able to implement our parenting group with more Carver students, as well as build relationships with more kiddos, educators, and community members. We are excited about how Adam's new role will enable Blueprint 58 to engage more deeply with the youth in the neighborhood and to meet a tangible need. I (Becca) will move into the executive director role full-time, while still juggling photoshoots for Accent Decor and our kids' care. It's fine, shouldn't be hard at all (eye roll).
We would love for all our supporters and encouragers and prayer warriors to be lifting up our family during this transition. We have done life at home together for the last 8 years, and this will definitely be a big shift in what our life looks like day-to-day. Adam will still have the same break schedule as the neighborhood kids (and our own kids) so that will help hopefully. That said, we will also just be readjusting our roles at Blueprint, our parenting jobs etc . . . which all seems a little overwhelming.
Listening, I suppose, sometimes means your life looks different than perhaps you expected. Or that you have to re-think your plans and reorganize your life. But we remain firmly in the camp that holding plans loosely is always the way we can follow Jesus most closely. Our neighborhood high school is a pretty severely under-resourced school, and we will do our best to keep you in the loop on how we can help fill that gap for the neighbors and kiddos we love so fiercely. Thank you all for being you, I am grateful to have your faithful presence in our lives.
In case we didn't mention it, we had a really good summer this year. Although perhaps the terrible-level of last year helps this summer seem amazing by comparison. Nevertheless, we enjoyed our family vacation up north this summer, had a pretty good year at camp with minimal behavior problems (
I mean, minimal for our track record at least)
, and even took kiddos to the beach for the very first time - which went more smoothly and was more fun than we even expected! All that to say, we are so grateful for the last two months spent exploring and traveling and spending time with loved ones. And I'm equally grateful for back-to-school and back-to-routine. Because we basically weren't home for more than 4 days at a time all summer and momma is tired, for real.
Just in case you're wondering how cool our boys are, it's very.
Just in case you're wondering how beautiful and tall Jayci is, it's very.
And don't forget, if you would like to be added to our private Facebook page for supporter/encourager updates, just let me know via email or Facebook message, or by requesting to join right here!
